GOP County Exec candidate Ficker may not qualify for public campaign funding

The sole Republican candidate in the Montgomery County executive race may not qualify to receive public financing matching funds by a midnight Tuesday deadline set by the State Board of Elections under the county law. Attorney Robin Ficker has been raising money to qualify for public campaign financing since February 2017 and was a little over halfway to the required amount as of January, the last filed campaign finance report. He has previously successfully spearheaded two countywide voter referendums, including the recent passage of county term limits. But as the first county election with a public financing option nears, some parts of the 2014 law are proving difficult for candidates to understand. (Md. Reporter)

John Apostol, first full-time mayor of Annapolis, dead at 79

Former Annapolis Mayor John Apostol, who was the city’s first full-time mayor and held the office for two terms, died of a brain cancer Wednesday at his family’s home in Georgia. A native Annapolitan who served between 1973 and 1981, Apostol died in Evans, where he lived with his family, after spending several days on hospice. He was 79. Apostol was elected at age 35, an accountant who was the first to hold the job as a full-time position after the City Council voted to change it in 1972. (Capital)

Rep. Anthony Brown of Maryland suffers minor stroke and is recovering at home

Rep. Anthony G. Brown (D-Md.) experienced a minor stroke Friday within a few hours of leaving the funeral of Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz, the congressman’s spokesman said Monday. The first-term congressman, 56, was taken by ambulance to University of Maryland Prince George’s Hospital Center, admitted for two nights and released on Sunday. He is recovering at home and has not set a definite date for his return to Capitol Hill. “Congressman Brown and his family are grateful for the excellent care he received and the outpouring of support and well wishes,” spokesman Matt Verghese said in a statement. “He is expected to make a full recovery.” (Wash. Post)

May 14 // At funeral, Kevin Kamenetz remembered as 'driven' politician: 'He was in this to win it'

As mourners paid respects to Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz on Friday, his wife Jill told the crowd of Maryland politicos that she had recently warned her husband: “This campaign is killing you.” “He barely slept; he wasn't eating well,” she said. But in a competitive primary for governor, he wouldn't have it any other way. “He was in this to win it,” she said. “He was driven, and he loved what he was doing.” (Balt. Sun)

‘It’s our time’: Prince George’s could lead the way in a state where women in leadership are lacking

Angela D. Alsobrooks is the only woman ever elected state’s attorney in Prince George’s County. Donna F. Edwards is the only black woman ever elected to Congress from Maryland. Now the two Democrats are vying to become Prince George’s first female county executive,generating strong support in a county where women have long been politically active and economically successful but say they still have been held back from center stage. “It’s our time,” said Mary Hopkins Navies, a well-known Prince George’s business owner who is backing Alsobrooks. (Wash. Post)

A candidate promises less “mansplaining” in Congress if she’s elected

A female Democratic candidate hoping to succeed U.S. Rep. John Delaney says in a new television ad that she is running because Congress has “too many multimillionaires and politicians ‘mansplaining’ health care.” The ad by Nadia Hashimi, a Montgomery County pediatrician and novelist, highlights that she would be the only woman doctor in Congress if voters in Maryland’s 6th District elect her in November. Even as she takes a swipe at wealthy lawmakers in the ad, Hashimi herself is also affluent, reporting in a recent financial disclosure statement that she earned $351,000 last year from her medical practice, book sales and speeches and has more than $1 million in investments. (Wash. Post)

As President Donald Trump laid out a plan Friday to reduce prescription drug prices, U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings accused him of abandoning a campaign proposal to allow Medicare to directly negotiate lower prices with drug companies. “I think very expensive champagne will be popping in drug company boardrooms across the country tonight,” said Cummings, a 12-term representative from Baltimore who is the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. (Balt. Sun)

Challengers to Baltimore senators could bring energy — but also a loss of clout for city in Annapolis

Challengers to Baltimore’s incumbent state senators are promising to bring change and new energy to the city’s representation in Annapolis. But Democratic leaders warn that such an outcome could further diminish the city’s political clout in a General Assembly where power has been shifting for decades to other parts of Maryland. The five city senators facing serious challenges in the June 26 Democratic primary together have a combined 96 years of legislative experience in Annapolis. Their challengers, including three members of the House of Delegates, cumulatively have 16. (Balt. Sun)